SOUTH STREET ENTERPRISE.
The Wessellhoeft family of South Street presses cider for sale on
November weekends. The apples come from one neighbor who has an apple
orchard in Bolton, and the mash goes to another neighbor for chicken
feed. (Photo by Midge Eliassen)

Referring to past examples of hard-fought-for
initiatives which reached dead-ends at Town Meeting, the selectmen on
November 6 asked for input from members of Carlisle Affordable Housing
Inc., the school building committee, and the recreation commission regarding
the presentation of two articles on the Warrant for the November 27 Town
Meeting. Article 5 provides for design of a school septic system and Article
7 approves funding for a study of the Town Forest with the intent of locating
affordable housing there. ...more

Carlisle School Building Committee members had
asked officials from the state School Building Assistance program (SBA)
to come to Carlisle hoping to get specific guidance on what site options
for a school expansion project would or would not be favored or funded
by SBA. Eric Gunn and John Lawler, both from the SBA, would not rule out,
or recommend, any of the options being suggested for the expansion of
the Carlisle School to accommodate increasing enrollment. The town needs
to study all the options and come up with a plan that is the best solution
for the community and one that the town can agree on, Gunn emphasized.
Then the town will need to advocate for its plan as well as submit all
required documents to the SBA before a decision is made whether to put
the project on the list for funding, Gunn added. ...more

The Carlisle Conservation Commission (ConsCom) has elected to play
a waiting game in the increasingly emotional debate over the future
of Carlisle's 67-acre Town Forest. While making it clear that they are
not opposed to the selectmen's Warrant Article 7 that calls for a study
to determine the practicality of a multi-use approach to that town-owned
property, they were decidedly reluctant to take a stand before hearing
the full-fledged debate anticipated during the November 27 Town Meeting.
...more

Cataclysms

Autumn's leafy deluge.
Winds bare the land.

Oak-colored sparrows
scratch the ground.
Dead leaves fly up
like brown geysers,
almost knocking them over.

The leaf mould quakes,
tilts, splits into plates.
The subterranean vole
pokes his head out, then
pulls it in again.